Wildflower displays move north
Various posts here have made clear that by far the densest and most widespread wildflower displays I saw this season grew in an east-west swathe below San Antonio in March. As spring advanced northward, Austin got a few respectable displays too, even if not nearly so expansive. Above from April 8th in the northeast quadrant of Loop 360 and RM 2222 is one such wildflower display with greenthread (Thelesperma filifolium) as the predominant species. Below from the same place you’ll find some fresh Engelmann daisies (Engelmannia peristenia) in the foreground and various other wildflowers behind them.
© 2019 Steven Schwartzman
Another feast for our eyes.
melissabluefineart
April 18, 2019 at 8:05 AM
Bon appétit.
Steve Schwartzman
April 18, 2019 at 8:15 AM
Mmmm…! Wonderful antidote to the mud we still have here. Some of our daffodils are blooming now, at least. Not native, but all least bright and cheery.
melissabluefineart
April 18, 2019 at 8:21 AM
So now your heart with pleasure fills and dances with the daffodils.
Steve Schwartzman
April 18, 2019 at 9:50 AM
Oh, that’s nice.
melissabluefineart
April 19, 2019 at 8:11 AM
Wordsworth has to get the credit.
Steve Schwartzman
April 19, 2019 at 8:29 AM
Between the various Coreopsis species and the greenthread, spring really can spread a wonderful carpet. I laughed at my first reading of your reference to the daisies: not Englemannia but ‘Englemania.’ That works, too. I love these spreads of mixed flowers. It’s great fun scanning the images for other species hidden among the primary flowers: bluebonnet, gaillardia, and Indian paintbrush are obvious, and I’m sure there are others.
shoreacres
April 18, 2019 at 10:07 AM
Your misreading of Engelmannia as Engelmania recalled the purposeful turning of Zexmenia into sex mania.
You’ve correctly picked out bluebonnets, gaillardias, and Indian paintbrushes in these photos. There were also a few pink evening primroses, and probably some other things I’m forgetting.
Steve Schwartzman
April 18, 2019 at 11:18 AM
These two shots are particularly cheery. I drive a short route, under the overpass of 183/Mopac and while I haven’t stopped to see exactly what’s there, the area shares some of these same beauties. Oh, spring in Texas!
Tina
April 18, 2019 at 2:04 PM
Spring in Texas is cheery indeed. Regarding the intersection you mentioned, I’ve spent plenty of time in its northeast quadrant, both the area accessible from Neils Thompson Dr. and the part accessible from the southern end of the Arbor Walk strip mall. If you get a chance, stopping in that quadrant is worthwhile because most of the good things I’ve found there couldn’t have been seen through the window of a passing car but only came to light when I walked the land. Small finds there led to two of my most popular posts:
https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/a-pretty-fly/
https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2015/02/27/clematis-and-clouds/
Steve Schwartzman
April 18, 2019 at 2:59 PM
Thanks for the links–I’ll walk to that area.
Tina
April 18, 2019 at 4:37 PM
You’re welcome. I hope you find some good things there.
Steve Schwartzman
April 18, 2019 at 10:20 PM
I just went to east Texas and was surprised that as we went further east the wildflowers were fewer when around the Houston area there are still lots.
lulu
April 18, 2019 at 7:56 PM
I wonder if areas in the far east peaked earlier.
Steve Schwartzman
April 18, 2019 at 10:18 PM
You have certainly had a wonderful display of colors this year!
montucky
April 19, 2019 at 5:45 PM
Yes, we have. Austin still doesn’t compare to the region south of San Antonio that I posted about so many times, but let’s hope the best of this season here is yet to come.
Steve Schwartzman
April 19, 2019 at 6:07 PM
Such bounty. I think I’d miss a lot of work in the spring, and probably at other times as well, if we had these botanical riches around here. It’s a struggle going in when one knows that the brief flowering days for our local plants are speeding by. Those shots are filled with so much of nature’s beauty.
Steve Gingold
April 24, 2019 at 3:09 AM
If this kind of floral wealth led you to skip work you’d be committing mutiny for the bounty.
In the past few days I’ve noticed that some of the embankments along Mopac, a nearby freeway, are looking particularly wildflowery. Guess I’d better go out and try doing something photographic before the grasses get too tall.
Steve Schwartzman
April 24, 2019 at 6:37 AM
Always good to revisit good sites. Once the grasses get tall someone might mow the whole thing.
Steve Gingold
April 24, 2019 at 4:51 PM
There’s no “might” about the mowing; the only question is when.
Steve Schwartzman
April 24, 2019 at 5:11 PM
Beautiful Steve … 🙂
Julie@frogpondfarm
April 24, 2019 at 3:03 PM
I believe that area is still good. Maybe I’ll take another look.
Steve Schwartzman
April 24, 2019 at 3:41 PM